Publications by authors named "S J Wirtz"

Dysregulation at the intestinal epithelial barrier is a driver of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, the molecular mechanisms of barrier failure are not well understood. Here, we demonstrate dysregulated mitochondrial fusion in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) of patients with IBD and show that impaired fusion is sufficient to drive chronic intestinal inflammation.

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Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) often associated with a Type 2 immune response. Although previous reports hint at a role for signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 6 signaling in non-immune cells, the contribution of STAT6-activation particularly in intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) is still unknown. Dextran sodium sulfate (DSS)-induced colitis is a model for UC in mice that we applied here on animals with expression of a constitutively active version of STAT6 in IECs (VillinCre_STAT6vt mice).

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Background: Asthma, a chronic lung disease, is a significant public health problem worldwide. It is marked by increased T2 response resulting in eosinophil accumulation. The pathophysiology of asthma involves various cell types, including epithelial cells, dendritic cells (DCs), innate lymphoid cells, B cells, and effector cells.

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Germinal centers where B cells undergo clonal expansion and antibody affinity maturation are hypoxic microenvironments. However, the function of hypoxia-inducible factor (HIF)-1α in immunoglobulin production remains incompletely characterized. Here, we demonstrated that B cells lacking HIF-1α exhibited significantly lower glycolytic metabolism and impaired IgA production.

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Gasdermin C is one of the least studied members of the gasdermin family of proteins, known for their critical involvement in pyroptosis and host defense. Furthermore, evidence for the role of Gasdermin C in the intestine is scarce and partly controversial. Here, we tested the functional role of Gasdermin C in intestinal homeostasis, inflammation and tumorigenesis.

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